Without a head
In the fifth chapter, Rosemary meets Harlow’s boyfriend, Reg. while Harlow is completely in love with Reg, Rosemary is unable to understand what she sees in him. Rosemary thinks that Reg is not only uninteresting but also lacks intelligence and to emphasize this she compares him with a bivalve, a type of mollusk without a head. Through this comparison, the author shows just how unimpressed Rosemary is by Reg.
Metaphor for revealing one’s secretes
An important scene in the novel is when Rosemary is a child and she remembers living with her grandparents. To pass the time, she one days goes on a trampoline with other children and they play together. While Rosemary was jumping, her skirt riled up and the other children were able to see her underwear. The event makes Rosemary feel so embarrassed that she plans to return to her parents on foot. But the event is also used here as a metaphor to suggest how a person feels when their secrets are exposed. And just like in Rosemary’s case, the process can sometimes be hard or even impossible to control.
Breaking
When Rosemary first meets Harlow, she behaves in an uncontrollable manner, fighting with her boyfriend in public and breaking glasses and plates. When the police come for her, they take by mistake Rosemary who was also in the room. As an act of defiance, Rosemary throws her glass and he plate on the ground as well. Thus the breaking here is used as a metaphor for rebelling against the system and against the authority figures.
Science and religion
The author compares the way Rosemary’s father felt about science with the way one of their neighbors love religion. This comparison has the purpose of highlighting just how important was science for the family and how for Rosemary’s father, nothing was more important.
Broken
Rosemary recalls one instance when she was with Fern, playing, and Rosemary tripped and fell to the ground. Fern began laughing at her and her father was so intrigued by Fern’s laughter that he didn’t even noticed that Rosemary broke her arm. The broken arm is used here as a metaphor to suggest just how much damage Fern did in the family: the chimp changed forever the way the children interacted with their parents and vice-versa.
